Microsoft bid is better than stagnating, say Yahoo insiders — Sometimes change—any change—is good. — For a company hobbled by cultural and management problems, a $44.6 billion hostile takeover bidfrom Microsoft may be just the kick in the pants Yahoo needs to rejoin the fight against Google—and potentially Microsoft.

What you all are missing about Google — I'm surprised that even Kara Swisher has missed this. The bloggers are going nuts, once again, over the email that a Google lawyer sent to Microsoft regarding Microsoft's proposed purchase of Yahoo. — Here's what's really going on:

MySpace Developer Platform Goes Live (Sorta) — MySpace is holding an event in San Francisco tomorrow with 250 application developers to ceremonially launch its application platform...for developers only, that is. — Over the next month, developers big and small will have the opportunity …

Heard the Latest About Podcasting? — Engagement via headphones. — Ever since podcasting was introduced, the question has been the same: Will anyone listen? — The answer is definitely “Yes.” — eMarketer estimates that the total US podcast audience reached 18.5 million in 2007.

Podcasts Taking Off (Again): eMarketer — Some interesting new figures have been released by eMarketer today that shows that podcasts are taking off in both traffic and revenue, and the outlook is even better again. — The general view on podcasting is that it had been passed by as video became …

Google: Like A Rock (That Is, Falling Like One) — Google has thus far today dropped another 5% of its stock price to drop below the $500 mark for the first time since last August. Remember, up until the final days in December the stock was still over $700 a share, and it was near the $750 a share level …

Hey Blodget, Still Betting On Google $2,000? — Google's stock continues its swan dive. It wasn't that long ago that some bloggers (well, one blogger) were thinking Google could hit $2,000/share. I scoffed, although to his credit Blodget did say it could take 10-15 years for it to happen.

16GB iPhone just around the corner? — There's been plenty of conjecture (pictured) about a 16GB iPhone — and its mysterious absence from the initial lineup — ever since the 16GB iPod touch graced us all with its minuscule presence, but things are starting to look up.

Thirty minutes with the N-Gage First Access client — “Ewan!” cried Rafe, “Nokia have pushed the N-Gage Client out ahead of MWC!” “I knew they would,” [Yeah, right - Ed] I congratulated myself. “Time to find out just what they have in store for us...” — So it's finally here.

Rumor: New MacBook Pros on the way? — With Apple's MacBook Air having reached store shelves, it might not be too much longer before the company updates the rest of its notebook lineup. — MacRumors notes fresh evidence—of sorts—that Apple is getting ready to launch revamped MacBook Pros in February.

Rupert Murdoch: +$900M is better than -$45B — Rupert Murdoch confirmed during News Corp.'s analyst call that he was not planning on bidding on Yahoo! — No wonder: Google is guaranteeing him $900M via Fox Interactive Media. Yahoo! used to power those very same text ads via Overture …